The Music Collection Not Streamed

How about that.  X videos are now up to 140 seconds for the free accounts and YouTube Shorts AND Instagram REELs up to 3 minutes. When did that happen? Seems like yesterday I tried to upload a video a tiny bit over 60s and it failed.  But Shorts where changed to allow up to 3 minutes in October 2024, 12 months ago. I just don't keep up with the comings and goings of social media.

Still seems the average viewers attention span is under 18 seconds though... 😂  

So this is a 2 minute MUSIC+COMIC on having a music collection and buying music (CDs, Vinyl and MP3s) to own.  

I started with vinyl records in the '70s, and was in a record club.  I was so happy when CDs came out. No fizz, clicks and pops! Also took up much less space and less of a dance performance to get them out of the sleave and onto a turntable and cue the stylus to actually play it. I sold my turntables and all but 2 of my 136 vinyl albums before moving back to Japan in 2019. 

I think buying the music you listen to makes it mean more to you.  The CDs I bought this year were of artists I saw live and even met. I would call Urasawa Naoki an Independent Artist, as he is actually a famous Comic Creator and musician isn't his fulltime job. I am all for supporting that.

I will sometimes use SPOTIFY or YOUTUBE to check out an artist I have just learnt about, to see if I want to get more familiar with them.  Like I have known about BABYMETAL for ages, but hadn't listened. Listened to a few tracks in the last couple of days and the band is awesome, and that the singers are cute girls is just very Japan.  Very different from ASTERISM, my current band on constant rotation.

When out and about in recent years, I put tracks and a handful of  albums on my SHARP Android Phone and use the PULSAR music player with JBL Earbuds or SHOKZ open units, depending on how noisy the place I am in is and environmentally aware I need to be.  That is so if my wife calls me about something, I will get the call, and missing calls is a problem if I use my X1 MP3 Player.

I don't need my entire music collection instantly available everywhere I go. The same few albums and track collections is all I need for many months at a time, before feeling I need to change anything.  For the last 6 weeks I have been mostly playing ASTERISM albums, and occasionally going back to some of my own ASSORTED MUSICAL BITS.  

Other Things

Found that just releasing a YouTube short just on a Sunday made only a small difference to how many views it got. Not enough for me to not go back and post at random times as is what I have normally done. So here we are, posting on a Wednesday morning! 

Came across  Indie, Over 50 on YouTube asking a question I talk about every so often on this blog. Why keep creating things and putting them out, when "no one but a few friends cares?".  That channels focus is on being An Older Indie Musician/Band trying to connect with an audience, with a dream of maybe making it.  Helps with promoting such musicians with YouTube and Spotify etc. playlists.  I left a comment, even if it isn't exactly my focus, even if I do have a BEST OF ALBUM on Bandcamp of my simplistic music 😀.  

I will be 67 in a couple of weeks!  We decided on where our ashes will go after cremation a week or so ago, and have to organize to pay for that tomorrow.  Not that we have an expiration date or anything, and we are fine.  

Hey! Look at all those Shills! The LINE 6 HELIX STADIUM is released and seems like dozens of YouTubes are gushing all over it today.  LINE 6 didn't send me one for free though, so you will not see a video like that from me.  I paid for my LINE6 POD EXPRESS BLACK.  I also have a BASS FLOOR POD I bought many years ago at a very low price at a local music store. Assumed it was too complicated for any bass players. I use it for 2 sounds and is great for me. 

A new Rick Beato video this morning, Where Have All The Metalheads Gone? Japan has a lot of metal (and every other style) bands, and I think part of that is there are a lot of guitar players here, so do get exposed to everything. I think it was after I started playing the guitar again in 2006 or so that I found metal (Metallica, Megadeth Avenged Seven Fold and the others in the guitar magazines), and that was even cooler than the hard rock I thought I was.  So I agree that playing the guitar is the place to get exposed to all the variations of guitar music. Rick Beato is also in "middle 'merica". In Trump country. Very much evident in his video on his trip to Japan and the music scene there, and much of his older top hits videos, where much of what he went over was SO American centric and not what was big in PUB ROCK Australia of my High School days. Like America had no Slade or Mark Bolan T-REX in the charts, but they were big in Australia and Japan. 

Easily Fooled

Our ears are easily fooled. The MP3 encoder relies on it. Higher level frequencies mask lower level near by frequencies. HI-GAIN guitars in a mix can hide issues in my music too.  Something can sound fine on headphones or full range speakers, yet some notes can have timing or pitch issues when played back on a laptop or phone speaker. 

I got out these tiny PC speakers and updated them too Bluetooth with a Nobsound NS-01G as another mix checking tool in the last weeks.  Helped with hearing some issues in a couple of 8 bar sections in the music in the extended Short here.  These speakers originally had garbage 3” 4 ohm drivers in them, but I replaced those with JAYCAR 1” 8 ohm units some 8 years ago.  For some reason, just putting a band limiting EQ on the monitor bus in Reaper for my main monitors doesn’t prove as revealing as these do. I have them across the other side of the room. 

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Our Music Production Setup (Mostly)

Under 60 second MUSIC + COMIC on our current music production system.  I have always DI’ed my guitars and have never mic’ed an amplifier.  The only guitar amplifier I have is a micro Orange practice unit, and rarely use it now. It just makes too much noise, and I rarely practice. Making something is my practice. 

This MUSIC + COMIC has a few extra irrelevant things going on in it to see if it can keep the attention of the general viewer for more than a few seconds on YouTube in the SHORTs feed. 

Have a few Distortion Pedals. Even an old MXR and a Boss DISTORTION & FEEDBACKER, and man, that BOSS thing is terrible. Have bought things like the METAL CORE and Mackie Mixer second hand. Happy enough using the ANVIL Amplifier and large cabinet in the Pod Express Black recently. 

I don’t use any of the Pods effects or stereo, as I add that during the mix with vsts.  I can also use just the Pod amp and turn off the cabinet, and use the IR loaders I have. I just haven’t needed to do that yet.  But it will come a time I will want to change things up a bit. Would love a HX STOMP but expect the HI-GAIN extra amp and cabinet options, especially in mono without effects the way I use it, would go UN-noticed in my finished tracks anyway.

Until moving to the Windows 11 GTUNE MOUSE PC  I was using a Roland Rubix22 and Cakewalk audio interface.  I could still use the Rubix as there is a WIn11 driver, but it isn’t  great. I hate that input level indicator. The control of volume between use in the DAW and standard Video and Animation applications isn’t consistent either, which makes it tedious.  So PC LINE IN, LINE OUT, ASIO4all  and a Mackie mixer are what I am using at at the moment. The mixer has phantom power for condenser microphones (like my audio-technica AT2020), and a real level meter. 

The basic noise floor of the Mackie Mixer -> PC LINE IN with nothing plugged into the mixer.

The noise component when you plug anything in becomes 60Hz mains hum some -68dB down.  Irrelevant for a Hi-Gain Guitar and even my vocals. 

I started my music production career in earnest with a TASCAM PORTAONE, so compared to that, my current system is “perfect”.  For many years I  used a BEHRINGER MC100 into the line in of my PC for guitar and microphone interfacing. 

Use an audio-technica AT-HAZ to drive headphones (love my AKG K702) and that also connects to JBL104 tiny powered monitors. I can power on Just the Headphones or speakers if I want, and most of the time it is just headphones. My studio is so tiny, there isn’t room for any larger monitors, or room treatment. I use headphones A LOT. I use the mastering spectrum analyzer and larger tower speakers in a larger room to check how I am going. Also have room simulator for the headphones and other things. 

This is all very much a lowcost music gear approach. I don’t need an expensive Neve Microphone Preamp,  compressor or EQ. Wouldn’t be any audible difference for what I do.  

In years past, checking music in the car was the best, but I almost don’t drive any more, and it is now a different car I haven’t spent 100s of hours listening to on long commutes to and from work. These days I don’t hear anything above 12kHz at all, and have some big dips in my hearing too, so I don’t hear like I used too and don’t trust my own ears.  ( I also go out of my way to protect what hearing I have and not get Tinnitus, like lots of people I know have. I use Ear Plugs when appropriate ). The SPAN spectrum Analyzer in mastering mode is thus a significant too to check the balance of what I'm doing and how much spectrum individual tracks are using.  

I use the REAPER DAW, with a bunch of effects and VST synthesizers, such as SURGE XT and ZebraHZ with a KORG microKEYS keyboard. Have an old Roland PC-180 too, I bought with a staff discount, but it takes up too much space now and the key touch is terrible. I think BOSS and Roland aren’t competitive for what I am after these last decades, and haven’t been value for a long time (since the TR-606 anyway, which I used in my 4 track days). I also have a KORG MS-20 mini, a real analog synth. Bought second hand.

Most guitarists will have at least 4 tracks of guitars. I have done that in the past, but recently I have one rhythm track and one lead track. Keeping it very simple, more Van Halen style than heavy metal.

The music I put on these music + comics is slapped into a limiter to make it loud and stand out. Very much like a TV advertisement.  A longer track doesn't need to be slammed anywhere near as much as these short things. 

At the present time, only YouTube Shorts get any views so that is why we keep with the 60 second music tracks. They also go on X with my “I am not paying for X!” account.  

When I started my YouTube channel, I used it for slide shows with music of my illustrations, like this:

I still do the same, with the music as support most of the time. So I identify with the pronoun PRODUCER, rather than GUITARIST or MUSICIAN.

This blog post and Short upload to YouTube will be the 3rd week in a row I am waiting till Sunday afternoon Japan time to post. This seems to be what YouTube is encouraging, and I will see if that is contestant with last weeks results or not. Also the 3rd time to write the post in Scriven first, rather than in the Blogger online editor.  For the last years, I have just uploaded stuff when I finished it, which more often than not, was a weekday morning. Many have had very few views.  It also means I get to review the result over a few days before I finally post it, and I think that has probably made the results a little better (or may be just busier) too, with added, interesting details I may be the only one to notice. 

 But in the end, I make these things for my own entertainment and how I fill a few days a week of my remaining time in retirement. I’m not trying to  “grow my channel” as all the tedious YouTubers say. I am not a YouTuber, but having stuff seen is nicer.

Dangerous Advice

On a related note, was shown a YouTube video yesterday about mixing on headphones, and their advice was to play it at a loud 85dB to judge, and that 8 hours at that level was safe. 

My first thought was “what level do I listen at?”. So made a quick foam jig to hold a Sound Level Meter in one ear pad, with the ear pad sealed (even though these are open back headphones ). 

 Played BROWN NOISE and MUSIC and found I listen at a very low level. 60dB is VERY loud, and 85dB is like head crushingly loud! 

The advice is 85dB is “safe for 8 hours” but really, that will result in ear damage if you do that often.  

Random Things

After really enjoying Predator Badlands last week, I realized I had never seen the first Predator (1987) movie. It is on PRIME and watched it during the week and it is quite a thriller. 1987 was the year I first moved to Japan with a young son and wife. A really busy time. 38 years ago and all a bit of a blur now. 

Facebook reminds me I bought EQUINOXE INFINITY CD 7 years ago. Love Jean Michel Jarre's music. In my own stuff I try and do RIFF based heavy guitar with things somewhat inspired by his kind of sequencer and melodic synths.   But not always 😁 .

I see on Facebook some in my year in High School had a 49th get together at a local pub. What was alarming were the reasons some that wanted to go but couldn't travel. Dialysis, Radiotherapy, recovering from a head wound needing 10 stitches and other things. These things happen to everyone, and 8 years ago I had my turn in Hospital, and glad to be fine at the moment.  

Thinking the next one of these MUSIC+COMICs I do could be on the making of the animation in this one, but we will see what else strikes me as interesting in the coming week.  

Update: 2025/1/17. Monday shows many only watch the above Short for 2 seconds, so it seems what I tried to do didn't work at all, and one on making the MUSIC+COMIC is probably NOT a good idea at all.  Whatever it is, already done a very guitar piece of music for it.

And I always find just posting a picture, like this of our guitars, gets far more reaction than anything I make with them, like a MUSIC+COMIC😞.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Where The Smoke comes out: A Collection Of Memories Comic

 

Under 60 second MUSIC + COMIC on our collection of memories. It isn’t an autobiography at all.  I can’t overstate that enough.

In 2001 I originally thought a book on my Oz Music Tech, Japan Music Tech then back to Oz journey as an autobiography might be interesting, but it didn’t take long via my website to discover that no one was interested. 

Some 10 years later I wrote a Kindle book about making car cartoons and put it on Amazon and discovered I wouldn’t go that route again either. The volume needed before you ever saw a payout was far too high for a niche book that wasn’t getting any significant promotion (and the give it away free for the initial promotion meant 1,000s had it anyway). 

A few years later I did the Heavy Metal Garage Car Cartoon webcomic hosted on my own website, all free to read  and discovered that was the direction for me.  

Some 10 years after that a short comic of just history and memories was something I felt like doing. I started it in a small apartment we rented after retiring/ downsizing in preparing to move back to Japan in 2019.  I just hosted it on our website like I did the webcomic using the same basic php comic viewer. All free to read.  That approach meant I didn’t need to write it all at once and can add and change it whenever I feel like it.  It received enough views, but more importantly, positive comments, to keep going. Only a handful, but that was enough.  

I really like this
I really enjoyed your short comic
love your comic
This is really interesting
Fascinating stuff and great fun to read!
Thoroughly enjoyed it
This is fascinating !!!
Awesome!!!!
Great read, thanks for sharing!
It's an incredible insight as to how technology develops

A key feature is it is short. Only 40 pages! 

The CBR format came later. Must say I have no idea if that format of My Collection Of Memories has been read by anyone the way I host it, but do know constant website accesses from China indicates it is being used to train their AIs.  

Not something I am going to fuss about though, as a retired guy just doing music & comics for fun.   

Wife had an old friend stay over the weekend, and I went to the Cinema last Friday. This week I have nothing I have to do, and that feels really good. I can ignore the rest of the world, and do whatever I want in the studio.

An Illustration? Painting? Comic? Music? Music+Comic? or something else?

What I did do is connect the "new" win11 PC (it is 3.5 months old) to the SONY mini combo HIFI with tower speakers in the next room via BT.  I have small JBL104s in my studio, and all I use ( mostly )with my AKG702 headphones in mixing and producing my music tracks.  But sometimes want to hear how it sounds on bigger speakers, not that it matters much now.  

I think very few people now actually listen to music on loudspeakers any more at home, and if they do it is just background music over something like a small Bluetooth speaker. Maybe the only place that people do listen to music via speakers is in their car. That was true for me. Car stereos are also still a thing, unlike the very niche home HiFi.

Studio or Live?

Musical instrument makers and sellers in Japan are all about live performance. Roland always was too. Expect being an introvert is part of the reason that has never interested me. Same reason I had no interest in being in a school play or performance and being on stage.  In the last couple of years, going to music events in Japan, I ask myself again would I want to perform on stage, as I do seem to be at odds with most who desire to be on stage. No, that is just Anxiety-On-A-Stick to me. The stress when hitting "record" on my own is enough! To me, a complete recorded piece of music is the goal , not just a keyboard or guitar part. 

New Manben Neo

The next TV episode of Manben Neo Urasawa Naoki told us was coming November during his concert chat will be on NHKe Nov 22 at 10PM on mangaka Chica Umino. I had not heard of her before this announcement, and I need to check out what she has done.  

Google Tricks

UPDATE: Wednesday 2025/11/12 The short above has gotten more views then anything recently, but this is purely algorithmically driven with google shaking my chain, as  "encouragement" for posting more consistently.

More views, but most only watch for 13seconds and there have been no likes.  

Yet to put this music track on Bandcamp. Seems little point, but expect I will anyway. No one goes to Bandcamp to stream music, let alone download it.  Maybe this video short is the best format for it.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Heavy Metal Garage Single Panel Comics

 

Under 60 second MUSIC + COMIC on our first single panel car comics. I did around 47 single panel car joke comics as a webcomic before I decided it wasn’t getting any increase of readership and I should move on to something else instead. This all in my spare time in 2014, as I made a living doing electronics and software engineering.  They are mostly based on the format used in the Non Sequitur comic strip. A single illustration with text in 2 parts, where many are jokes.  I tried a few art styles with them. Very rough sketchy pen photoshop colored. Clean black marker photoshop colored, and black marker with watercolor.

You need to spend far more time promoting and networking anything you make than you do making stuff, and that just doesn’t interest me. Never has.  

"An artists job, he said, was maybe 30% making art, and 70% selling your self to those rich enough to buy art."

The music in this is 8 and 7 string guitars, drums and synths. Using the same instruments and track arrangement as the recent others. I just haven’t tired of this setup yet.  I don’t spend much time worrying about the mixing and mastering either anymore. If it sounds alright to me at the moment, and looks reasonable on the SPAN spectrum analyzer in mastering mode it is good to go.  I expect the few people that watch the MUSIC + COMICs are doing so on their phone over the phone’s speaker. Maybe they are using earbuds is the best I could expect, and I do make sure nothing is panned 100% left or right.  “No highs, no lows, it must be B0SE”, is all completely fine for the majority, and  BOSE have done so well not comparing themselves to others.

YouTube shorts get far more views than just music tracks on Bandcamp ever do.  But the YouTube algorithm keeps on changing.  Three years ago, that was in the 1,000s, but now some 300 is all we can expect maximum.  More often just single digit views.  It seems I get the most views at the moment, I need to post so that they hit America/Europe Saturday/ Sunday night. If post at other times, it just doesn’t get seen. 

My YouTube channel's MUSIC VIDEO playlist has 165 of my videos in it, but has only had 108 views. 

YouTube changes to AI driven algorithm, programming and content creation seems to be pushing out human involvement completely. 

A few YouTubers have gone into that, such as EEVBlog  . Feel lucky I don’t need to make a living from it and lost interest trying to comply with their ever changing requirements on creators 10 years ago.  Have an old blog post on that downward trending views and website hits of Googles constant algorithm changes, and their constantly falling shared their profits & “bait and switch”.

Not all my MUSIC + COMICs get put on YouTube though. The ones that have a cover song type track are only for X, as that seems the only place along with my own blog, where that is still okay to do.  Not being someone that chases followers, most don’t get noticed. But I make them because I need too.

Predator Badlands

Saw Predator Badlands opening session Friday here and loved it. The runt of the litter (the Predator actor is only 7' 4" tall) succeeds through friendship. The connection with the ALIEN universe via WEYLAND-YUTANI corporation all makes sense.  The music is also awesome.  

The subtitles were especially great. There are a lot of subtitles. A line of Japanese over a line of English for Predator spoken language, and just the Japanese for the spoken English. All in the same font and color. Many subtitled foreign films in Japan, only ever have the Japanese.  

I never went to see any Predator movie at the cinema before, but did this time because it isn't like the others. Those old Predator movie die-hards seem to hate this one for doing it wrong, but from my POV, it has been done very right. 

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Car Comics: Pen on Ink, Black and White

 

Our car comics, pen on paper & vector drawn.   Just one of those things I wanted to do.  The music is heavy 8 string fan fret guitar and synths this time in Lydian 145BPM. Since getting the Line 6 Pod Express Black, I hadn't used the 8 string that much, as to me, I find the DROP 7 string the sweet spot.

These comics are all from 2022. 

I feel I did all the interesting cars back then, and all the similar comics I started since, just didn't have that "something" they needed for me to continue very far with them.  

The comics are all free to down load here from our website in CBR format.  It needs a CBR reader, but I find them very useful for PDF too.  In my own case, a CBR file is just a .zip archive of sequentially numbered jpeg images of the pages with the extension changed. They should really be .CBZ files, but the readers don't care, so for the longest time I didn't notice.  

Also did this music + comic too a few days ago:

It was pretty much ignored on social media.  Even more ignored than usual. 

Both of these music + comics are rather about the guitar tone. I just love that metal guitar sound, even if I'm not much of a metal guitarist. I am about "music production", not "being a guitarist".  The Pod Express Black ANVIL amp with large cabinet and no effects is THE guitar sound for me at the moment. The ANVIL amp is said to be based on the HX STOMP's BADONK, but I expect simplified somehow.  IS the HX's version more awesome I sometimes wonder? I don't record guitar parts with effects. They are added when MIXing in my Reaper DAW. CHORUS, REVERB, DELAY, FLANGING, EQ and everything else are plugins.   

Had  Booster Vaccinations early last week and we found it really knocked us about for a few days, so after all the business of the week before, had a rather relaxed, pained week.

I find I usually am really into some Album, or collection of tracks from an artists Albums I like and play them constantly for weeks, while walking, sitting in a cafe or drying the dishes.  In recent weeks that has been ASTERISM. A month ago it was URASAWA NAOKI constantly.  

I have also tried listening to the 3 FREAK AUDIO LAB'S RESIST THE CORROSION tracks from YouTube on repeat.  They are so awkward sounding for me at the moment, and I can't listen very long before going back to something from ASTERISM or even my own tracks. I can't buy the album (as don't have one of the FREAK KITCHEN online store payment options without asking Mattias personally to take my PayPal!), and there may be some tracks I will love on it, but don't know yet. Not sure why though, as I can listen to similar strange tracks on the previous GROW YOU'RE OWN MUSTACHE release and do get into them.

Have already started recording guitar parts for the next 60 second music comic, even though I have nothing I want to say with it at the moment. Nothing unusual about that though. 

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Live Music 2025, So Far...

So this music + comic tells the story in 60 seconds. Been to more live shows this year than have in the last decades. Been very good.

Being in Japan has a lot to do with that though, where there are lots of LIVE HOUSES all over the place. Very different from Sydney Australia now. But in the 1970s, all the pubs had live bands a few days a week. A pity all those stages were eventually all replaced by Poker Machines, and live music pretty much died.

Know of a few shows that I wouldn't mind attending in the rest of the year too, but will see.  I don't have the energy I had in the 1970s and need to pace myself.  I wonder what next year will bring, and expect, as I now follow the local venues, I will get to more earlier next year. I just want to be familiar with a bands music before I see them live.

I feel privileged to have gotten to see the bands I have this year. Getting Freak Kitchen to Japan for a show was dedication from an "amateur promoter". Urasawa Naoki is a Comic Creator, with this serious music "hobby", and he put a band together and toured, without any big promoter behind him. ASTERISM is on SONY, but that they still play in small venues like Kyoto MOJO is something I don't understand, but thankful for.  HAL-CA of ASTERISM is a extra ordinary guitarist, but the whole band is technically awesome.

The 60 second, 150 BPM music in this is me trying to be a bit more old school metal riff, while still having sequenced synths and a simple interesting melody, that rocks.  A longer piece edited down to this length.  

Last week was very busy for us. Needed to visit the Australian Consulate, get the Cat Trimmed on the other side of the city, select our "final resting places" and get a vaccine booster.  Much more than a normal week for us. 

I have no idea how I ever had a full time job AND did all that I had too, back in the day. 

AND have learnt of the music of SLEEP TOKEN in the last few days via YouTube suggestions. Seemed to come out of nowhere to me, but been around since 2016. Watched a few song breakdowns and listened to their most popular tracks playlist. Great voice where the lyrics are so important (even if mostly sad school boy), the rhythms, the word play, then the drums, then heavy guitars (down tuned 6 semi tones?) and production. Very start stop/ high energy/ pop/funk/jazz/ hip-hop/ black metal/ weird time signatures. One could say unnecessarily so.  What has stuck me most is the voice and wordy lyrics, then "anything goes" for the backing. 

The referral algorithm doesn't seem to work anywhere near as well as it did. Get offered the same videos I have seen and lots of rubbish I don't care for. If you want someone to tell you to think something, while wasting a lot of time doing it, YouTube is for you! 

I have stopped looking at MASTODON, and have pretty much stopped posting on Bluesky at the moment. There didn't seem to be any point posting anything on them for some time, so now just on X and Facebook again, with some of my music + comics posted on YouTube as well. I get so tired of social media. So many talking constantly about that that is not worth hearing. 

Our website has had no enquires for the last 6 months and I put that down to Google now being completely useless and now so focused on Advertising.  Get so much spam though, flogging AI site views.  Seems our site is now constantly having Wordpress login attempts in various directories, and feel lucky my site doesn't use Wordpress at all.  

Oh, look at that. I have to go renew my drivers license. Maybe next week.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

1 Minute Music

 

60 second music is what I have been mostly playing with in the last few years. Something for X, YouTube Shorts and X. Anything longer than that becomes a YouTube standard video or Bandcamp track where almost no one will hear it. 60 seconds or under will get at least 2 digit views, which is a triumphant success for me.  Even if I do it just for myself anyway.

Everything starts as an adlibbed recording that is much longer than that though. Sometimes I set out to make a new piece of music, but somedays what I do isn't worth keeping. It just doesn't have that something I need to finish it.  If I do manage to record something I like, that forms the basic musical structure.  Making no more than 60 seconds isn't easy. The majority play no more than 18 seconds, so as short as that is fine too, except I can't say anything in a cartoon, but the majority aren't reading what I am saying anyway. 

In the above image the music to the left of the selected bits are the early version of a complete track, and is about 90 seconds.  Has the heavy guitar and synth feeling I am after.

It is an interesting exercise to make something very short. It is also interesting to make a 3 ~4 minute song too, for my own entertainment.

It is about all I use my gear for now, and that is fine.  

I also put it in the Assorted Bits 2 album on Bandcamp.

It will now be a few days before I need to do it all again with a new theme... and at the moment, I have no idea what that would be.  I will be doing something like walking around in the Supermarket, or in the shower, and get an idea about something.

That is not just a variation of an previous music + comic:

Concert Thoughts

The audience hall and stage of the live house Kyoto MOJO is probably the smallest I have ever been too.  Then I see pictures of the Osaka Smashing Pumpkins gig and the huge hall there, and I am glad there are smaller venues like MOJO or even the larger CLUB QUATTRO Umeda.  Makes for a much more intimate concert, where you can see the performers close up.  

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Mid October 2025 Update

 

So did this 60 second guitar and synths piece, CRYSTALS. I animated some bits from this poster I did for my comic. All very Moebius Crystals, clouds and vast sky...

I guess it is interesting enough for one 60 second viewing...

Today is Windows 10 end of support.  My Win10 PC is a Netflix/PRIME player attached to a TV at the moment, but see how long that lasts, before I just connect this Win11 PC instead and clear up some room space. 

Been reflecting on the events I attended this year, art shows, music concerts, and a music + art concert. The most I have ever done. Hadn't attended a concert for some 30 years before this year. Not including our daughters piano recitals, or a Kabuki Dance thing attended at the Kyoto Noh Theater a few year ago, or Mattias's guitar clinic at Music Bar M last year. 

I intend to keep going to the things that interest me for as long as I can physically go. It is what I like to do. Not interested in a world cruise or something like that. Traveled enough during my working life. It is getting harder though. Just don't have the energy to keep going all day.  Need a grandad nap most days and have to pace myself. Like when I went to Shinjuku this year, after travelling there from Kyoto and attending the exhibition, I could do nothing but rest in my hotel room till the evening.  I could have met up with a few people I know from X, but just didn't have the energy, so didn't even try.   

Spent the last 4 days getting and listening to ASTERISM albums. Very impressive. The book that is part of PLANET OF METAL is a bright and colorful on good paper. Illustrations ANIME styled fare. Just maybe the story fragments could have had a little more thought involved in the writing? Seems all too simplistic. The groups playing though is incredible.

Out and about, listening to music with earbuds, I really enjoy Urasawa Naoki's lyrics. He takes care that you can understand what he is singing. I find that important. Mattias Eklundh also has lyrics to listen too.

Saw that TESTAMENT has a new album, a Thrash Metal group I had never heard the music of, and so had a bit of a listen. Unfortunately, like THE HAUNTED, they have METAL GROWL vocals, and that isn't my thing at all. Both of these bands do the way Ola Englund does metal riffs. Seems to be the modern way, but they seem more important for their rhythmic aspect than the notes they use. I guess I prefer old style metal riffs.  

AND, next week, the awesome Mattias IA Eklundh releases his other band's album, RESIST THE CORROSION. He has put a couple of tracks on YouTube, but it is all too free jazz for me, unfortunately. At least so far.  Being online shopping CC challenged, it isn't something I can just order from his store anyway, but maybe for later when available to purchase locally.  That is what I had to do to buy his EVERYBODY GETS BLOODY CD.    

Boring things are also part of life still.  Have to verify who we are to our Australian Bank for an account we have had for some 30+ years. As we are now living overseas means a visit to the Consulate General to certify documents to mail to them. And the wait time for our Consulate appointment is weeks longer than the deadline the bank gave us 😂.    

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

ASTERISM with Support Dr.Capital Kyoto MOJO: 2025/10/10

 

First time for me to visit Kyoto MOJO Live House and bar.  

But I first set out to visit O.C. Burrito for dinner, only 2 minutes away from the venue. A S Chicken Burrito, my first and I think the M would have been better. Pricey at 1,100yen.  Then went to the venue around 6:30PM and all still locked up and no one around, so went to HOLLIES CAFE a few doors away for a Mango Yogurt Parfait to fill in time, and make up for the too small Burrito I had.  HOLLIIES is huge. So many seats, which is nice to find.

Went back to MOJO 6:50PM and there was a que of ~20 people lined up along the footpath. A much older crowd than I expected. Most 45~50 and older I would think. Many in ASTERISM t-shirts and long time fans. The guy that would talk to me, after I tried making chit chat with those in the que around me, had been following them since they were in school and 17years old. Drummer now is 25.  ASTERISM are all at least 10 years younger than my own 3 adult kids! 😮 

I thought I might have been really out of place age wise for an ASTERISM gig, but not at all.  

We had all reserved our tickets on the TIGET website and waited for the MOJO staff to call our number where he then tapped the button on the phone ticket, and we then went down the spiral staircase to the bar, paid our 4,600 yen and picked up our drink. A bottle of chilled water for me. Then thru a door to the hall:

Guessing it holds around 100 without being too crowded. Last night I counted 45 in the audience when it actually started.

A small place, so you are close to the performers without even being at the front of the stage.

Dr. Capital was up first and did a "Halloween themed" set, THRILLER, GHOST BUSTERS, Metallica's UNFORGIVEN with a few of his own songs. His explanation of his song SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT lasted longer than the song did. Not sure if I am joking there.  Then there was that bit about song writers lyrics may actually be fictional for entertainment, and not reflect the singers actual experiences. 

He plays and sings wonderfully, he just isn't METAL. Really an Acoustic Bossa nova guy, as he described himself last night. I think of him as that JPOP Music Education YouTube Channel, but have read he is moving into that RADIO/TV/GAIJIN-TALENTO thing.  He played for about 45 minutes though.  He played to backing tracks. Maybe from a loop pedal? I have no problem at all with backing tracks. I think the crowd appreciated his show, even if most were there for ASTERISM.

His mike stand had an iPad (I am guessing) on it, and it kind of looked as if he was reading the music and lyrics much/some of the time.  He did say he hadn't really played these songs much... 

Dr. Capital's  last YouTube video is another visit to the Shibuya Roland Shop, seeing their new quiet V-Drum set. I knew a thing or two about that company at one time, but left 24 years ago, and a lot has changed since then.

Then ASTERSIM hit the stage. Boy, they have impact and that they have been doing this for years really shows!  Been playing a few of their playlists in the lasts weeks, and did recognize a few songs. 

I have set out to get more of their albums now for next time, as everyone else there knew their material and pumped their fists as required. Their DECIDE CD says they want their music to be MASS METAL, and it is this interesting mix of METAL and what could be JPOP/ANIME ENDING THEME songs. They are on SONY.

ASTERISM's gig had a couple of small incidents. Part way into their new release BLINK OF RAY, a poor cord connection to the bass, resulted in just a loud hum, so they stopped and MOJO staff fixed the problem, giggled the cord at the bass, and they restarted the song from the start.  

During the last song, the low 7th string on the bass became very loose, like the machine head tuner broke, and he had to hold that out of they way and continue playing. Shows how much energy he puts into playing that 7 string monster.

The final 3, or was that 4 songs, was Dr. Capital and ASTERISM together.  The last of the evening being Ozzy's BARK AT THE MOON.  

I used ALPINE Ear Protection lowest filter. The last 4 songs were much louder, but I managed.  

The only merchandise I bought was the ASTERISM 2023 release DECIDE CD.  The girl selling Dr. Capitals stuff was disappointed.  

On leaving, given the 2026 Jan/Feb ASTERISM concert gig dates for LiveTour2026.

I left as soon as the gig was over at 9:40PM or so, to catch the 3 trains to get home. Don't know if they had a sign-kai. 

This morning I ordered ASTERISM PLANET OF METAL book/CD and their ASTERISM Crescendo (完全生産限定盤) (特典なし) CD.  

Only the third "live house" I have been too so far since moving back to Japan. All been wonderful. It is a pity all the equivalent places that did have live music in decades past in Australia have now all been converted to POKER MACHINE HALLS!   

I hope to go to something else at Kyoto MOJO sometime, and catch ASTERISM again too. Probably after asking myself "WHAT WILL  I DO TODAY?" and seeing something cool on. 

And look at that, teamLAB near Kyoto JR Station, has just opened with 50 digital "art" installations... 

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology  KYOTO JAPAN

Coming Up Kyoto MOJO Live House and Thoughts

The great thing about being retired for me: 

This is a 16bar sequenced synth part under heavy guitars. But is it "my style" or am I just making almost the same bit of music over and over again?  Can't tell, and as just an old grandfather amateur entertaining myself, it really doesn't matter either. It isn't a job (the way electronics and firmware were!) and that makes it fun. 

This Reaper Project shot shows the 59sec bit used in this on the time line, but I record much more and it is really a longer piece. I have no idea if anyone but me has the sound on when watching my music+comics anyway.

ASTERISM

On X I saw ASTERISM and DR. CAPITAL are having a gig at Kyoto live house KYOTO MOJO that is practically in my own backyard.  Not that I have been there before. I booked my ticket the day after it was announced. 

AND close by O.C.Burito , that has food that is something of a novelty to me as I am not an AMERICAN, and haven't even tried the Burrito yet. Been there twice, and a third time sounds good, it is in a B1 food court, OPEN 11:00~22:00(L.O 21:00).

Been aware of ASTERISM for some time. The guitar chops of HAL-CA, the guitarist are something else, and the brothers bass MIYU and drums MIO match her.  Skill and technique, but not sure what  "voice" they have though, even after playing their Spotify Playlists.  

A 2024 LA gig somewhat like this is what I am expecting, except a very different crowd... 

Part of the PLANET OF METAL tour, where they did an illustrated 7 track Album with a Japanese  Illustrator known as Acky Bright.  Acky Bright illustrations show ASTERISM members battling numerous monsters with the album songs based on the illustrations.

A double gig with YouTuber and academic  Dr.Captial. He can sure play and sing, but not sure what kind of show he will do, as 95% of what he seems to do is JPOP covers, and teaching about the songs. 

Calling himself Dr.Metal for this gig.  Probably a good thing. Expect anything he plays will be very well done, what ever it is.

First I learned about him was on the often weeaboo UNPACKING JAPAN YouTube channel, and found him interesting.  Seen some of his channel, but his interactions with Marty Freidman on ROCK FUJIYAMA and his passion and technique for  Brazilian Acoustic guitar was what really caught my attention.   He can play 3 independent parts simultaneously, and discuss it all. 

The gig is 5 days away now.  I expect to be the oldest person there by a wide margin, even though I don't look it.  On NHK this Sunday morning there was a news item on a city in some prefecture I don't remember, putting on a music performance/show for "over 65 seniors".   That is me, but it wasn't the kind of show I would want to go to!

The First Lady Prime Minister of Japan

And big local news is Japan will have her first female Prime Minister.  She beat the nepotism that was trying to install the idiot son of a former Prime Minister, of the same party, and the same party that has been in charge for decades here. A follower of the recently assassinated Abe. She is the one my wife and own kids barracked for with her "don't let the foreigners in Japan take advantage of us" views.  

If I mention "that may have a bad impact on me too, you know...", she says "they don't mean good foreigners like you".  Time will tell. I am a self funded retiree, so don't get any pension or such government money and pay for my own health insurance, so guess any regulation changes she makes to stop the "reported" foreigner abuses (from the Chinese and Turkish?) will not impact me at all.  

Right Wing propaganda everywhere says undeserving foreigners coming in are get big payouts that local citizens don't. This stuff is always untrue, but don't know about the Japanese case, but expect it too is untrue.  

Dreaming Japanese

Almost through Marty Friedmans book. Mmm.  Can't say the first  half is a "fun" read...  probably more "I really didn't need to know that", even if his remarkable talent as a guitarist came out then. Worries a lot about his hair and image.  There is a YouTube episode of The Captain Meets Marty Friedman on Andertons UK music channel where The Captain is surprised he loved a very lowbrow crude UK cartoon.  Even had the cartoon character on the back of his guitar pics.

It picks up after that though. His getting to Japan and making a living is a very different journey than my own (I came here as a degree holding electronics design engineer with a Japanese wife and son, and industry cred). 

My sister in law is a big fan of Marty, but she didn't even know he was a musician. Just an interesting テレビ外人芸能人  ,which for many of them, is like having a talking dog as a cast member of the TV show.  Marty is very aware of this but also knows that is how he makes his real living now, and funds his music career, he gets to dip into regularly with his own band.  I have never seen any of his TV appearances. But I also don't watch any Japanese variety TV,  remember clearly the low opinion of it the other Japanese Engineers I worked with had of it.

I have just seen some of his later YouTube Rock Fujiyama episodes.    

He is passionate for JPOP and other Japanese music, and that helped him a lot in his music career in Japan. He says his TV talent life has forced him to grow as a person and that could only be a good thing. 

I think having a skill and passion that has commercial application in Japan is the key for non Japanese living and working in Japan, along with language ability. Any Japanese kid from school does Japanese.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology

The Unasked Question: Who Am I?

 

There is usually a short answer, simple but not accurate, and a long answer for most things. 

One question I am rarely asked is "why are you in Japan?".  

The short answer is my Japanese wife wanted to live in Japan, and I am completely okay with that. Lived here for 20+ years now.  But working and living in Japan isn't easy without the correct background and qualifications.

In my case, it was because I had a Japanese wife and done the electronics development of the later versions of the music production system that changed the music and instrument industry in the 1980s that presented a job worth having in Japan as a foreigner. Initially, anyway. I hadn't gone to school or university to study Japanese and the Culture, but electronics and software. 

The 42+ page collection of memories webcomic has more details and historic context, and isn't an autobiography at all.  

BUT, now in retirement I am getting to do what I wanted to do most, and be who I am.  Make silly drawings and music, go to art exhibitions, make miniatures and sculptures, go to concerts and visit a cafe listening to music when I want.  Not doing anything my career involved.

When you retire you become invisible to the bulk of society.  You are not in the work force, travelling in peak hour or climbing the corporate ladder or whatever.  I am now mostly out and about when everyone else is at work, or doing my own thing in my studio.

My Studio is a very modest affair though. Basically a 1.7m x 1.8m alcove, just big enough to sit with a Jazz Bazz and not hit the walls moving around.

But I have my REAPER based DAW, MOHO animation, Printer/scanner, Wacom tablet, drawing supplies, painting supplies all within easy reach. 

It is the perfect place where I do the stuff I want to do. 

When Covid stopped being the problem it was, and I started going out and meeting people again I made up some name cards, as it is normal to exchange them in Japan.  Made up stickers too, and give those out to people I randomly talk too, just so they might remember me next time we meet at an event. It doesn't matter if they just throw them away, or give them to their kids... 

I even gave the Flame Throwing Kyoto Truck sticker to Urasawa Naoki when I met him this week and he signed my MANNON CD.  He may have just left it on the table when the sign-kai finished and not touched it.  I don't know, I just left after meeting him.  

I have on my name card I am a Musical Cartoonist.  

I think that is pretty good for a short answer...

On my social media bios I have some thing like "Musical Cartoonist, Illustration, Music Production."   

Music Production?  

Yes, I am more interested in making music, even if only 60 seconds long, than I am of saying Guitarist or Synthesist. Don't think of myself as a guitarist or keyboard player at all. Think that applies to people that play live to an audience.  I make my original music in my studio, the way I do illustrations.    

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology KYOTO JAPAN

Urasawa Naoki "Rhythm & Drawing", Yes Theater, Osaka 2025/9/23

 

Urasawa Naoki is a respected Manga artist and writer. Know for his works like: 20th Century Boys, Monster, Pluto, Billy Bat, Yawara!, Master Keaton and Happy!

He also has a Radio Show, and the wonderful Manben (Manga Study) series on NHK TV.  He has a very serious hobby(?) as a musician, singer/song writer. He released his Love Songs CD earlier this year, his 3rd album(?).  The story telling songs of Bob Dylan & John Lennon are significant influences. 

So when he announced an Osaka Show for his "Rhythm & Drawing" I thought I wouldn't mind seeing that. On YouTube I had previously seen videos of such events he did solo in Europe. 

I didn't rush to book a ticket though.  A few days later when chatting with my wife, she offered to buy me a VIP seat as a 40th Wedding Anniversary gift.  On the same day she would be going with her sister and friends to OSK. One of her friends daughter is one of the "stars".

Hadn't been to the YES THEATER before, but it is in the connected maze of Shotengai to the east of Namba Station. It was a public holiday and everywhere was crowded with tourists and Japanese alike. Lots of places to go and lots of cafes/restaurants.

The forecast was for rain from noon. Darn... a character from his current ASADORA!

But it didn't rain enough to need an umbrella and most of the streets are covered in the area anyway.

I had a front row seat. The theatre seats 300, but there was a disappointing turn out of only 60, so just the first few rows had any audience in them.  After a full theatre in Tokyo:

He joked about some mistake criticism of OSAKA EXPO, or it is finishing soon for so few people. Urasawa san must have been gutted, and he looked that way when they came on stage. 😞  And next week is Kobe, an even smaller city. Maybe bigger manga fans.

The show was really good. They played for over 2 hours. No photos or video allowed, but venue staff were taking video and photos, these from Urasawa's post on X about it:

The band are all great, and Urasawa himself is a much better guitarist than I expected. He can also play and sing at the same time, I can't do that at all 😀.

Not just strumming chords on an acoustic or semi electric but doing solos on his Telecaster, through his VOX amp, too. Front of stage, in front of me, with his guitarist.

He didn't just leave all the fancy playing to his support band of pro musicians.  Sounded to me like he had quite a thickening delay and something on his vocals.  

During many of the songs, the band would do an extended instrumental in the middle and Urasawa san would come down the front stage steps to a table with a camera set up and draw characters and scenes related to the songs.

Like during his song Mr. Postman, he drew a traditionally uniformed Postman running to deliver a letter, sealed with a heart.

He related how the death of author Ray Bradbury impacted him.  His novel Something Wicked This Way Comes was inspirational and what his song カーニバルがやって来るみたいだ (Kanibaru ga yattekuru mitaida) is about, and the significance of the harmonica.  

In his introduction to his Manben TV show theme, he said he had just finished filming yesterday for a show for November broadcast. A really big well know artist, but NHK wouldn't let him say who it is (I would love to see Masamune Shirow and Mamoru Nagano who both put on exhibitions in the last 2 years).  

He said NHK doesn't give him any real assistance with the show.  He has to get his own introductions to the Mangaka, then keep going back to them as they always so no, they don't want to be on his show. He has to be persistent. When he finally arrives, by his own car, to the place the final interview will take place, NHK staff put a radio mic on him, they say "go!", and he just as to make up on the spot the introductions we all see.  He has to write what the narrator says, and correct her pronunciations. 

He thinks NHK maybe losing interest in Manben Neo, "but we haven't, have we?!". No we haven't!

The last image he drew:

There was a "sign kai" after the show, for those that had purchased merchandise. They fenced him in with a table, and barriers each side. Was this to stop him from trying to escape? I wondered to myself, loud enough for a staff member to hear 😀

I bought the LOVE SONGS t-shirt with the SOBA GIRL on the front, and his 8 year old release MANNON CD. 

He wouldn't take any photos with anyone today, not even for VIP ticket holders.  I had talked to others waited to get into the theatre with me and they said sometimes he will take photos, other times not.  The ones I talked to were there because of the manga artist he is, not for the music.  They also didn't follow his recent works though, but loved older stuff like MONSTER and YAWARA!

The gifts included with the VIP Seat and my signed MANNON CD:

Everyone got a really brief time to chit chat and get something signed.  You were given a piece of paper by staff  with instructions to put on it the name etc you wanted him to write. When giving him the paper, have it the right way round.  😐  That may be normal, but it isn't something I have experienced before. Never been to a Sign-Kai before, anywhere. 

He chatted he had just met and done something with a drummer/percussionist XXX, but that name  didn't ring a bell with me, but it could have just been his pronunciation.  The same way he has no idea who Mattias Eklundh is... 

Weeks ago, on an X post that the band had finished rehearsals for the first Tokyo gig, I replied I had a VIP seat for the Osaka show, and added my  60 second music+comic of my English version of his song Yurei.

When signing my MANNON CD, he said he had played the video, heard my English lyrics.  He didn't say what he thought about it though, with a smile. I had always assumed an assistant did all his posts, but it seems he does read them, even if he will never reply. 

Then he shook my hand, and my turn with Urasawa san was over. Next.

Yurei was the second song in the set last night. The live band seems to make all the songs seem more Rock'n Roll.

I don't know of anyone else having a gig with music and drawing like this.

So my big events for 2025:  Sound Messe Osaka 2025, Freak Guitar Camp in Japan weekend, Masamune Shirow exhibition in Setagaya Tokyo, Freak Kitchen + Rikugo and Urasawa Rhythm & Drawing concerts in Osaka are all concluded. 

Also bought a MOUSE PC Windows11 GTUNE  PC to replace my 9 year old not upgradeable to Win10 ( support ending Oct 13) machine. By far my biggest expense this year😠. This has been a really big event year for me.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology   KYOTO JAPAN